Heidekreis ("Heath district") is a district (Landkreis) in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Harburg, Lüneburg, Uelzen, Celle, Hanover, Nienburg, Verden and Rotenburg.
History Historically the region belonged to the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg and its successor states. The district was established in 1977 by merging the former districts of Soltau and Fallingbostel as Soltau-Fallingbostel (). On 1 August 2011 it was renamed to Heidekreis.
Geography The district includes the western half of the Lüneburg Heath (Lüneburger Heide). Since this landscape is so characteristic for the district, it calls itself "the Heath District". The capital is Bad Fallingbostel, although it has only 11,800 inhabitants and is only the fifth-largest town in the district.
Coat of arms The coat of arms displays: in the upper half the heraldic lion of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the lower half a megalithic grave
Towns and municipalities
TownsSamtgemeindenBad Fallingbostel Munster Schneverdingen Soltau Walsrode
Free municipalities Bispingen Neuenkirchen Wietzendorf
Unincorporated area Osterheide1. Ahlden Ahlden Eickeloh Grethem Hademstorf Hodenhagen1 2. Rethem/Aller Böhme Frankenfeld Häuslingen Rethem1, 23. Schwarmstedt Buchholz Essel Gilten Lindwedel Schwarmstedt11seat of the Samtgemeinde; 2town
Culture and places of interest Cultural matters are looked after by those charged with communal cultural support within the towns and municipalities, the parishes, the banks, the Lüneburg Regional Association and private cultural initiatives.
Museums and collections Dat ole Hus (heath and open-air museum in Wilsede) German Tank Museum in Munster (German military history of the 20th century) Düshorn Village Museum (life and work around 100 years ago) Hof der Heidmark in Bad Fallingbostel (memorial to the Heidmark) Klingendes Museum (mechanical musical instruments) in Schwarmstedt Museum of the Archaeological Working Group in Bad Fallingbostel Soltau Museum (local history and archaeological exhibition) in Soltau Soltau Toy Museum (toys from four centuries) Peetshof (Zeugen Wietzendorfs um 1900) in Wietzendorf Prussian History (Pavillon im Landschaftspark Iserhatsche) in Bispingen Pult- und Federkielmuseum (Schulmuseum in Insel) in Schneverdingen Rischmannshof Heath Museum (heath and open-air museum) in Walsrode Schäferhof Neuenkirchen (Moorland sheep rearing to preserve the heath and moorlands between Neuenkirchen and Soltau) in Neuenkirchen Heimathaus auf dem Schroershof (historic farmstead with many buildings) in Neuenkirchen Art Society and Springhornhof Foundation in Neuenkirchen Bothmer School Museum (schools in the times of the Emperor) in Schwarmstedt Ehrhorn Woodland Museum (woods – heathland – people) in Schneverdingen
Cinemas Munster: Deutsches Haus
Walsrode: Capitol-Theater
Lüneburg Regional Association The district is a member of the Lüneburg Regional Association (Lüneburgischer Landschaftsverband), which looks after regional, cultural-political tasks.
Nature reserves There are 29 nature reserves in the Heidekreis. The largest one (Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve) has an area of 13,222 ha in the territory of the Heidekreis, the smallest (Söhlbruch) has an area of 8 ha.
Jewish cemeteries There are four Jewish cemeteries in Soltau-Fallingbostel : in Ahlden, Rethem, Soltau und Walsrode.LANDKREIS SOLTAU-FALLINGBOSTEL. In: Jüdische Friedhöfe nach der heutigen Verwaltungsgliederung – Niedersachsen. In: Übersicht über alle Projekte zur Dokumentation jüdischer Grabinschriften auf dem Gebiet der Bundesrepublik Deutschland There are protected cultural monuments – stone witnesses to former Jewish communities and a thriving Jewish parish live into the 1930s. The cemeteries are mainly on the edge of parishes.
See also Hannover–Braunschweig–Göttingen–Wolfsburg Metropolitan Region
References
External links
Official website (German)